Josefina Villalobos
{{Short description|First Lady of Ecuador (1924–2025)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Josefina Villalobos
| image = Josefina Villalobos 2011.jpg
| caption = Villalobos in 2011
| office = First Lady of Ecuador
| term_label = In role
| term_start = August 10, 1992
| term_end = August 10, 1996
| predecessor = Carmen Calisto
| successor = María Rosa Pulley Vergara
|birth_name=Josefina Isabel Villalobos Páramo
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|8|5|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|2|24|1924|8|5|mf=y}}
| death_place = Quito, Ecuador
| spouse = {{marriage|Sixto Durán Ballén|1945|2016|end=his death}}
| children = 9
| nationality = American
Colombian
Ecuadorian
}}
Josefina Isabel Villalobos Páramo (August 5, 1924 – February 24, 2025) was an American-born Colombian-Ecuadorian public servant. She was the First Lady of Ecuador serving from August 10, 1992, through August 10, 1996, when her husband, Sixto Durán Ballén, served as President of Ecuador.{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/former-ecuador-president-duran-ballen-dies-at-age-95|title=Former Ecuador President Duran-Ballen Dead at 95|publisher=Fox News.com|access-date=November 16, 2016|date=November 16, 2016}}
Early life
Villalobos was born in New York City to Colombian parents.{{cite book|author=Suárez Baptista|title=Historial genealógico de los Febres-Cordero|date=1969|publisher=Ediciones Euroamérica|page=39|edition=first|language=Spanish}} In 1945, she married Sixto Durán Ballén.{{cite web|url=http://www.cidob.org/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/ecuador/sixto_duran_ballen|title=President Sixto Duran Ballen|publisher=CIDOB.org|accessdate=November 17, 2016}}
First Lady (1992–1996)
As the first lady of the nation, Villalobos was known in the media and by the Ecuadorian people Finita de Durán-Ballén. When she became first lady, she played a vital role in the creation of the {{Ill|National Institute of the Child and the Family|qu|INNFA}} (INNFA).{{cite web|title=Sixto Durán Ballén cumple 90 años con dos homenajes|url=http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/politica/sixto-duran-ballen-cumple-90.html|accessdate=18 October 2016|publisher=Diario El Comercio|date=10 July 2011}} {{in lang|es}} She was known for hosting of Carondelet Palace and accompanying her husband on various trips nationally and internationally. Josefina was the oldest first lady at 68 years old when her husband won the presidency of the Republic in 1992.{{cite web|title=La figura de la Primera Dama ha cambiado|url=http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/politica/figura-de-primera-dama-cambiado.html|accessdate=18 October 2016|publisher=Diario El Comercio de Ecuador|date=14 October 2012}} {{in lang|es}}
Personal life and death
Ballén and Villalobos had nine children. After Ballén left office, the two retired and lived in Quito, Ecuador. On November 15, 2016, Ballén died at the age of 95.{{cite web|url=http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/muerte-sixtoduranballen-expresidente-ecuador.html|title=El expresidente Sixto Durán Ballén falleció este martes 15 de noviembre|publisher=El Comercio.com|accessdate=November 16, 2016|date=November 15, 2016}} {{in lang|es}} Villalobos became a centenarian on August 5, 2024, and died in Quito on February 24, 2025, at the age of 100.[https://www.ecuavisa.com/noticias/sociedad/josefina-villalobos-viuda-sixto-duran-ballen-murio-quito-EH8867431 Josefina Villalobos, viuda de Sixto Durán Ballén, murió en Quito a los 100 años] {{in lang|es}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category-inline|Josefina Villalobos Páramo}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before = Carmen Calisto}}
{{s-ttl|title = File:Coat of arms of Ecuador original version.svg First Lady of Ecuador|years = 1992–1996}}
{{s-aft|after = María Rosa Pulley Vergara}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villalobos, Josefina}}
Category:First ladies of Ecuador
Category:Colombian emigrants to Ecuador
Category:People from New York City
Category:Colombian expatriates in the United States
Category:21st-century Ecuadorian women
Category:Ecuadorian women centenarians